News
The Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committees held confirmation hearings for California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, President Biden’s nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services on Feb. 23 and 24. During the Finance Committee Hearing, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) raised the issue of the importance of oral health. Political analysts believe that Becerra’s nomination will be confirmed by the Senate.
Likely Nominees for CMS and CMMI Reported
The Biden Administration nominated Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, a former Obama Administration official who helped implement the Affordable Care Act, as the next Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Brooks-LaSure served as a Deputy Director at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) under President Obama, the head of the Biden Transition’s HHS Review Team, and is currently a managing director at Manatt Health. The nomination was first reported by The Washington Post. Her nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.
The Administration has also nominated Elizabeth Fowler, who served as an advisor to President Obama’s National Economic Council as the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). Fowler was chief health counsel to former Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus (D-MT), and one of the key drafters of the Affordable Care Act. CMMI is tasked with developing models and methods of improving Medicare and Medicaid, including pilot programs to expand coverage.
For more information, contact Sr. Government Affairs Analyst Owen Urech.
Links
Brooks-LaSure Nomination (Washington Post)
Fowler Nomination (Bloomberg)
